The telephone answering system and apparatus of the invention is of the general type which includes a sensing circuit that responds to a ring signal on the telephone line to activate the answering instrument. When the instrument is so activated, a recorded announcement is transmitted to the calling part over the telephone line during an announcement interval (T.sub.1). A message recording tape is then activated within the answering instrument in order that the calling party may record his message. In the apparatus to be described, the message recording equipment is voice actuated, so that the calling party is not limited to any particular prescribed time interval in which to record his message. Instead, as long as he continues talking, the message is recorded.
However, problems occur in the voice actuated type of telephone answering system. These problems arise, for example, when the calling party hangs up during the announcement interval (T.sub.1). In most telephone systems, a busy signal occurs on the line a short time after the calling party hangs up. This means that, should the calling party hang up before the end of the announcement interval (T.sub.1), the telephone answering system enters the message interval (T.sub.2) when a busy signal is being received on the telephone line. Most voice actuated telephone answering systems cannot distinguish between busy signals and normal speech, so that when a busy signal is received the equipment remains activated during the entire length of the message interval (T.sub.2), so that the message tape is entirely wasted since only the busy signal is recorded on it.
However, most voice actuated telephone answering systems of the type under consideration are capable of distinguishing the usual dial tone from the voice signals on the telephone line. Therefore, if a dial tone is received during the message interval (T.sub.2) the system automatically hangs up, and is returned to a standby condition for the next message.
The circuitry of the present invention hangs up and effectively disconnects the telephone answering system from the telephone line for a brief interval at the end of the announcement interval (T.sub.1), so that a tone signal is re-established on the telephone line if the calling party has hung up during the announcement interval (T.sub.1), the tone signal continuing for a sufficient time into the (T.sub.2) message interval, so that the telephone answering system can hang up before the tone signal turns into a busy signal, as is the usual occurrence in most telephone answering systems after a certain interval.
The circuitry of the invention is extremely simple in its concept, and can easily be installed into existing telephone answering systems of the voice actuated type.